NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has constituted a dedicated team to lead its upcoming Gen Z outreach programme. The move follows directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging ministers to deepen engagement with youth through direct interactions in universities and government schools.

According to news agency ANI, the outreach team comprises prominent party leaders, including:

BJP national president Nitin Nabin National general secretaries Smriti Irani and Vinod Tawde Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi Chhattisgarh minister OP Choudhary The initiative aims to address the aspirations, concerns, and expectations of younger voters through direct discussions, interactions, and engagement activities. Detailed schedules, formats, and event locations are expected to be announced in the coming days.

The announcement coincides with increased youth outreach by opposition parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi scheduled a ' Chhatron Ki Goonj' event in Pune at the AISSMS College Ground from 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm, expecting 8,000 to 10,000 attendees to discuss issues such as examination irregularities, paper leaks, rising education fees, and women's concerns.

BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban criticized the Congress event, calling it " Paise Ki Goonj" and alleging the party spent nearly Rs 10 crore, including paying social media influencers up to Rs 35,000 to mobilize crowds. The Congress has rejected these allegations.

Separately, BJP national president Nitin Nabin chaired the first introductory meeting of the party's newly constituted national team on Saturday following the recitation of the national song ' Vande Mataram'. In the new setup:

Vinod Tawde and Sunil Bansal continue as national general secretaries.

Biplab Kumar Deb, Smriti Irani, Satish Poonia, Gajendra Patel, Harish Dwivedi, and Sanjay Bhatia join as newly inducted national general secretaries.

Union minister Piyush Goyal has been appointed national treasurer, with Rajasthan's Rajesh Mangal named national joint treasurer.